Active agents
These are agents who have been seen as active during any book in the series.
James Adams
Born James Robert Choke in 1991, in Tufnell Park, London. The protagonist, James suffers from anger management difficulties, often landing him in trouble. These anger management issues were what got him expelled from school in The Recruit , in which he is recruited into CHERUB following the death of his mother. James has had many girlfriends, notably Kerry Chang and Dana Smith, both fellow agents. He is said to be intelligent particularly at maths but being extremely lazy in school as well. He ends up dating Kerry again at the end of Brigands M.C., although he left a year before Kerry went to university in America and it was unclear whether their long-distance relationship would survive; Robert Muchamore later confirmed that it did. James Robert Choke had to change his name to James Robert Anthony Adams when he decided to join CHERUB at the beginning of The Recruit. He is the main character of all 12 CHERUB books. James's final mission is Shadow Wave . At the end of his CHERUB life, he returns to his "Choke" surname and switches his two forenames around, to become Robert James Choke. In Black Friday, he returns to campus to help train CHERUB agents, before helping Ethan Aramov to get information from Leonid. Following the death of Yosyp Kazakov on a mission, he is offered the vacant post of training instructor by chairwoman Zara Asker, eventually accepting and becoming a junior staff member, then eventually being promoted and becoming a mission controller by the end of New Guard.
Lauren Adams
Born Lauren Zoe Onions in 1994, in Tufnell Park, London. Lauren is James's half-sister and after the death of her mother, lives with her father Ronald Onions for a short time, until he is arrested for smuggling cigarettes and abuse; she is then recruited to CHERUB. She has accompanied her brother on missions in Maximum Security , Divine Madness , Man vs Beast , and Brigands M.C.. It is in Man vs Beast that she turns vegetarian, after seeing the cruelty suffered by animals used for laboratory tests. She goes on her first solo mission in the 7th book The Fall where she tries to help a young Russian girl called Anna who had been trafficked by Russian men but got separated and rescued. Lauren ends up being kidnapped by the men along with Anna and has to fight her way out. When she returns to campus she takes out her anger at what she saw on James but they reconcile later. She has an on/off boyfriend on campus, Greg "Rat" Rathbone, who she met on her second mission in Australia. They became simply friends again somewhere between The Fall and Mad Dogs but later dated each other again although they have an argument in Brigands M.C. Lauren eventually travels to live in Australia following her retirement from CHERUB and enters racing championships with partner Rat, excelling in the sport.
Kyle Blueman
Born 1989, somewhere in the United Kingdom. A key character in the early stories, Kyle recruited James into CHERUB through sharing a room with him in the children's home James inhabits following the death of his mother. Kyle is renowned around campus for his unauthorized DVD business. It is revealed in Class A that Kyle is homosexual, and he gets his first boyfriend, Tom Carter, in Man vs Beast. Kyle expresses that while Tom is a target, that he believes that Tom is a good person at heart. He spends an afternoon with Tom in James's bed, and James finds a sock in his bed and displays displeasure. Kyle retired from campus in Mad Dogs, after he got kicked out by Zara for helping in a plot to stop Norman Large from maiming Meatball (he had a drunken heart attack on a camping exercise, with Lauren Adams being the only credible witness) He is James Adams' best and oldest friend; James describes him as his closest mate, although he could be a bit of an old woman sometimes.
Kerry Chang
Born Ling Chang in 1992, in Hong Kong. Kerry is recruited to CHERUB in 1998, after losing both her parents in an apartment block fire in 1995, and being found wandering the streets alone. Kerry is James's basic training partner, and they share an on/off romance between Class A and The Fall. In Class A, she accompanies James Adams, Kyle Blueman, and Nicole Eddison on the mission, posing as an adoptive sister. After breaking up with James in The Fall, she dates Bruce Norris; however, she still harbours some feelings for James in The Sleepwalker . In The General Kerry breaks up with Bruce in the very end. She ends up going out with James in the end of Brigands M.C.. She is described to have a great body, as in the airport someone shouted 'nice arse'. At the end of Shadow Wave, Kerry gets accepted in Stanford University and, one year later, goes there with James. Kerry has an exceptional talent in martial arts and as James describes "...is a good all rounder in academics". In the final book, New Guard , it is revealed that her and James marry in September 2017, and are expecting a baby. She also becomes a mission controller.
Greg "Rat" Rathbone
Born Rathbone Regan in 1994, Northern Territory, Australia. Rat's name was changed to Greg but everyone calls him Rat anyway. First appearing in Divine Madness, Rat was brought up under harsh physical conditions in the Australian Outback, as youngest and 33rd son of the leader of a famous cult known as The Survivors. Rat is highly intelligent, although tests undertaken on CHERUB campus have failed to replicate the IQ of 197 that he claimed to possess while living in the Survivor's Ark. He secretly shares a relationship with Lauren, later telling everyone that they are going out in The Fall, but in Mad Dogs they decide to be "just friends". Rat is the main agent character in the story Dark Sun. It is also revealed in The Fall that he has bushy hair after Lauren claimed that she didn't want to go out with "a boy with a bird's nest mounted on its head". Rat and Lauren Adams have a relationship during The General.
Bruce Norris
Born Aled Thomas in 1992, in Prestatyn, Wales. He changed his name to Bruce Norris (Bruce Lee & Chuck Norris combined). James met Bruce when he had his martial arts test, and has since been on missions with him. Though he acts tough, he sleeps with a blue teddy bear called Jeremy (although he denies this whenever it is brought up by saying "it was on a shelf above my bed, and it fell"). He often talks of how much he enjoys brawls and James is often slightly concerned with how twisted Bruce can be toward violence. Kerry Chang (mentioned above) once broke Bruce's leg in seven places, and Bruce claims that it was broken in nine places. Bruce also fractured Kerry's kneecap in Class A. In Mad Dogs, he is seen to be going out with Kerry and this relationship is continued in The Sleepwalker and The General. However, the last line of The General mentions that Kerry and Bruce have had a row and had broken up. He later goes out with Bethany Parker and has sexual intercourse with her, but they break up, too. In Mad Dogs he goes with James in their mission to infiltrate the Mad Dogs football club and is given a black shirt by Zara for his outstanding performance. Retiring a year later than James from CHERUB service, he returns to the series in Black Friday along with James as a temporary CHERUB staff member, instructing agents in advanced driving maneuvers. He is seen once again in New Guard serving as temporary CHERUB staff member, and then assists James, Kerry, Lauren, Kyle and Ryan in an unauthorised black-ops rescue of two British hostages from Islamic State controlled Syria. Following the events of New Guard, Bruce continues a burgeoning relationship with agent Fu Ning when she retires from CHERUB. For starting a relationship with an active-duty agent and doing so as a CHERUB staff member, Bruce is permanently banned from any further employment by CHERUB and exiled from the organisation for three years, a sentence he describes as "totally worth it" in the epilogue.
Dana Smith
Born Danielle McQueen in Australia 1990. She joined CHERUB after her mother, an environmental activist was run over and killed during a peaceful demonstration in France. Another agent who was James's girlfriend from The Fall to The General . Their relationship began while James was still involved with Kerry. From Australia, she is well built, curvy and has large breasts. She is a tomboy and often wears beat up, ripped clothing. She is also a bookworm, her favorite book being The Lord of the Rings . At one point she attempts to make James read it to no avail. She has an intense dislike for people who are of higher rank but younger than her. She first featured in The Killing , and is one year older than James Adams and two years older than James's previous girlfriend, Kerry. She plays her most prominent role in Divine Madness where she goes on a mission with James and Lauren and earns her navy shirt. In The Fall she helps James with his investigation after a failed mission and they save Ewart's life, prompting them to earn their black shirts. At the end of the novel, they begin their relationship and participate in a campus-wide food fight instigated by Kerry and Dana fighting. In The General split up after she cheated on him with Michael Hendry (who she briefly dated for 4 weeks after the end of her 13-month relationship with James). At the time Michael was also in a relationship. She reconciles with James at the end of The General. She last appeared in Shadow Wave when she comes back to Chloe Blake's wedding. It is revealed that James actually loved her. Following the events in Shadow Wave, she drops out of her art college course and works part-time in her Ugandan boyfriend's art gallery.
Dante Welsh
Born Dante Scott in 1994, in Salcombe, Devon. Dante made his first appearance in Brigands M.C. , the series' eleventh novel. According to Muchamore, he is the most important character introduction since Rat in Divine Madness . He joined CHERUB after his parents and all but one sibling, his sister Holly, were murdered by a biker gang, known as the Brigands Motorcycle Club. He rescues his eighteen-month-old sister Holly and they both escape. After two months, he was recruited to CHERUB with Lauren, and began training at the same time as her, completing it while she had to restart. Four years later he had spent the past 32 months on a mission in Belfast, enough to go straight from grey to black shirt (after Zara bent the rules slightly). He then went on a mission with Lauren and James in Brigands M.C. in which he infiltrates the biker gang that killed his family.
Amy Collins
Born Jennifer Amy Pegg in 1987, Prestwich, Greater Manchester, England. In 1988, her father and younger brother died in a blimp accident, and her mother died of throat cancer. Amy is physically strong and skilled in karate, judo and aikido. She excels at sports, especially swimming and diving. She is described as extremely beautiful.
Amy was in CHERUB from 1992-2005. In The Recruit, Amy was James's swimming instructor, and acted as his elder sister on his first mission. In Class A, she taught James computer hacking skills he needed during his mission. She retired from CHERUB after achieving six A-levels (four in foreign languages). She moved to Australia to live with her brother John, got a job as a bodyguard, then began studying Marine Biology at the University of Cairns in Australia. She also appeared in Divine Madness and Shadow Wave. She has also appeared in the Aramov trilogy. At the end of the trilogy, she transfers from her defunct posting with the CIA and enters service in the FBI.
Shakeel Dajani
Born Ahmed Shakeel in 1992, Egypt. Shakeel was on basic training with James and Kerry. His father was an asylum seeker from Egypt who died as a result of a heart attack. His friends on the CHERUB campus usually call him 'Shak'. He excels at team sports, especially rugby, which makes up for his underperformance in academic subjects by CHERUB standards. He is a good friend of James. He often makes sexist jokes which infuriate Kerry Chang, who then takes it out on James. Shakeel is described as having let himself go by James during New Guard , and now weighs in excess of 100 kilograms.
Nicole Eddison
Born Nikki Vandome in 1992, Tottenham, London, England. Nicole started basic training with James and Kerry, but dropped out on her first day, after being told she was too fat. She eventually completed basic training, but was permanently excluded from CHERUB after snorting cocaine in Class A, being resettled on a farm with a foster family. She has an intense disliking for old people, as her parents and two brothers were killed by a half-blind old man who ran them over but got away with it, because the authorities judged him not as aware of his actions. After the Government ran tests on him, it turned out that he could barely see past his own nose. Because of this, she views most elderly people in a negative light.
Michael Hendry
Born Jordan Lindsay in 1991, Ipswich. He first appeared in The Fall as Gabrielle O'Brien's boyfriend, and arguably his biggest role in any book was Mad Dogs, where he tried infiltrating a gang known as the Slasher Boys. Things went catastrophically wrong as Gabrielle got stabbed, but the mission carried on. He broke up with Gabrielle after cheating on her with Dana, James's girlfriend. He and James had a fight during a football match. Unlike Gabrielle, he isn't from the Caribbean, though could pass for it, as in Mad Dogs it says he was born and grew up in England.
Andy Lagan
Born Christopher Holmes in 1994, Salford, England. James makes him cry in The Killing by slapping him after his breakup with Kerry. He is later Rat's best friend, accompanying Rat in his mission in Dark Sun . He went out with Bethany before she dumped him for Bruce Norris.
David "Dave" Moss
Born David Rogers in 1988, Eastry, Kent, England. Dave is James's partner in Maximum Security and in The Killing. He is known as "one of the coolest guys on campus", having won all martial art competitions which he had entered, as well as having an exceptional success rate on missions. He is described as physically fit and good looking.
In the past he impregnated another member of CHERUB. He retired from CHERUB after The Killing, but makes a brief return in The Sleepwalker.
He is known for getting girls, having sex, and then treating them like dirt because he prefer relationships which last for a short time, not long-term, which has led to Kerry Chang labeling him a scumbag for doing so in his profile on the CHERUB website.
Gabrielle O'Brien
Born Gabrielle Ruthven in Jamaica in 1991. Gabrielle's parents had worked with CHERUB agents on previous missions until their death. Gabrielle is Kerry Chang's best friend and was on basic training with Kerry and James. In Mad Dogs, she almost dies after getting stabbed. She breaks up with her boyfriend Michael in The General when she discovers him cheating on her.
Bethany Parker
Born Elissa Bethany Paloma in Newcastle Under Lyme, England. Bethany is Lauren's best friend. James generally can't stand her, often to the annoyance of Lauren. Her brother is Jake Parker, and she obtains her navy shirt at the start of The Sleepwalker. Her parents died in a sightseeing helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon in 2001. She is described as medium build with dark hair and green eyes, and she is also described as having massive jugs by Ronan Walsh in The General. In Shadow Wave, she was revealed to have had underage sex with Bruce Norris, a sixteen-year-old CHERUB agent. She is expelled from CHERUB for keeping in contact with a boy she met on a mission after it had ended, and now lives close to campus.
Jake Parker
Born Jacob Paloma in 1996, Newcastle Under Lyme, England. Jake is Bethany's younger brother, he accompanies Lauren on a mission in The Sleepwalker. His parents died in a sightseeing helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon in 2001. Jake and Lauren have a long-standing rivalry, and usually Lauren threatens all sorts of things until another CHERUB member intervenes.
Connor Reilly
Born Connor Farnworth in 1993, Croydon, Greater London, England. His (and Callum's) mother abused them before being barred from them. Connor is Callum Reilly's identical twin, and was on basic training with James and Kerry. He completed the training the first time, whereas Callum dropped out because of his broken arm after the basic training compound incident.
Callum Reilly
Born Callum Farnworth in 1993, Croydon, Surrey, England. Callum is Connor Reilly's identical twin, and was on basic training with James and Kerry. He had to drop out when he fractured his wrist, but completed training on his second attempt.
Kevin Sumner
Born Kevin Peterson in 1997, Farnborough, England. He has a fear of heights, but he is rather rambunctious at times. His fear of heights and his anger, along with James and Bruce, help him through the pressure in The Fall.
He also made a brief appearance in The General, sharing a room with Lauren, although the bullying Bruce and James gave him wasn't mentioned. He earned his navy shirt at the end of Shadow Wave.
Megan Sumner
Kevin's younger sister, she was born Megan Peterson on September 30, 2000. She lives on campus.
Arif
One of the CHERUB agents appearing in a couple of the novels. He is currently attending university but comes helps out on campus often, mainly for the training department. He has a very fit build. In The Recruit he and Paul helped James learn to swim.
Ryan Sharma
Ryan is the main character of the Aramov series. He is described as Arabic and handsome in appearance, and physically strong (like all CHERUBs). He wears a navy T-shirt. His father worked in the oil industry as a geologist. After drinking and gambling problems led him into debt, he was found dead under some rubbish. Sharma's mother brought Ryan and his brothers to the UK in 2009, bluffing her way into a private cancer treatment program. She was kicked out when she could not pay and died shortly afterwards. Ryan is selected to go undercover in the Aramov organisation by befriending Ethan Aramov. During the mission, events resulted in the death of Ethan's family by rival Aramov factions within the group, and although the mission was terminated following the disappearance of Ethan to the Middle East, Ryan maintains contact with him for CHERUB and his follow-up missions against the Aramov clan become one of CHERUB's biggest assignments in history. Falling in love with contact Natalka during the Aramov mission, Ryan pines for her even after his return to the UK, and following his retirement from CHERUB in 2017, he is helped by James Adams to find her, resuming their relationship from where they left off three years before although in the epilogue, it's revealed that friends have described the relationship as being extremely volatile and unlikely to last.
Fu Ning
Ning was adopted by Choaxiang and Ingrid from an orphanage in Dandong when she was young. She was sent to Miss Xu's boarders and attended Dandong Lower School Number 18. When Ning was 11, Choaxiang was arrested for corruption and human trafficking. Although Choaxiang's fate wasn't mentioned in the end, newspapers Ning reads claim he was facing the death penalty. Police searched for Ning's mother, Ingrid, who was also involved, but they escaped to Kyrgyzstan. They were caught by a clan called Aramov who wanted their wealth. Ingrid was strangled but Ning escaped after an Aramov employee named Dan pitied her and took her home. Following this, Ning escaped to Britain through a truck smuggling immigrants, and after working in a sandwich factory and nearly being deported by the UK government, CHERUB and TFU agent Amy Collins intercepts Ning on her deportation flight to China and instead debriefs her on her experience, and introduces her to CHERUB. Ning then goes on to become a CHERUB agent and serves for five years, before on her last major assignment meeting and falling in love with ex-agent Bruce Norris, who sets her up with a gap year in Thailand where she teaches in a dojo and resumes her relationship with Bruce.
Alfie DuBoisson
Alfie is CHERUB agent of French origin, and is described as tall and blonde. He is also good friends with agents Ryan Sharma and Max Black.
